Corrections Secretary Wetzel: One-Third Of All New State Prison Inmates Have A Sentence Of One Year Or Less.

One-third of all new state prison innmates are serving a sentence of a year or less when they enter Pennsylvania's prison system, putting a strain on resources and increasing the likelihood that they'll become repeat offenders, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said this afternoon.

"This system was developed for major offenders," Wetzel said during an appearance before the Pennsylvania Press Club. "It was never set up for relatively short-term offenders."

Most inmates have already served six months in county jail by the time they enter the state prison system.

By the time they're classified and provided with services and treatment, they can remain in jail well past their minimum sentence, Wetzel said. That's an "inefficient" use of state resources at a time of cutbacks and tight budgets.

To address that, Wetzel said the Corrections Department has set up three specialized housing units for that population of about 3,500 inmates a year. The department's assessment process, which typically takes two to three months, has been streamlined to several weeks for those prisoners, he said.

Right now, about 44 percent of the state prison system's more than 50,000 inmates are likely to return to jail after being released

After more than a decade of consistent increases, corrections spending is set to decrease to from the current $1.88 billion to $1.87 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Wetzel said the agency has entered into a partnership with the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Council of State Governments to do a top-to-bottom review of the way the Corrections Department delivers services. It's a process he described as "justice reinvestment."

To reduce the number of people coming into the state system, Wetzel said the agency has leaned increasingly on county corrections departments and community-based approaches intended to make sure that inmates do not offend again.

"When we make bad decisions up front ... we have a negative impact on the back-end," he said.

The agency is also taking a different approach to mentally ill inmates by setting up in-house equivalents of state hospitals. Those prisoners, who make up about 20 percent of the inmate population, must be legally committed to those hospitals, he said.

Upon their release, mentally ill prisoners are given 30 days' worth of medication, access to refills and are connected with psychiatrists and other specialists. Still, the "sheer numbers suggest we are not doing as good a job as we can," Wetzel acknowledged.